Virginia: one of the most diverse holidays in the USA

On your Virginia holiday, the most difficult decision might be selecting from the many tantalizing options: history with a modern twist, breathtaking natural beauty, shopping at brand-name outlets and boutiques, soaking up the sun along miles of pristine coastline, savoring the local produce and sipping award-winning wines.

Virginia is For Lovers: Follow Your Heart

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This is the first, largest and most prosperous colony on the books in the USA; it’s also, as the local saying goes, “for lovers.” History and romance go hand in hand here, where rolling hills and sunny beaches give way to charming towns and boardwalks along with the polished manors of presidents and memorial sites. The Historic Triangle, for example, is home to Jamestown, the first English settlement in the USA, Colonial Williamsburg, and Yorktown, where the American Revolutionary War ended.

What’s more romantic than enjoying a glass of wine and noshing on some of the state’s excellent oysters from the Virginia Oyster Trail while watching the sunset on a picnic in Shenandoah National Park? Home to more than 280 wineries, making it the fifth largest wine-producing state, Virginia’s wine heritage is well-earned: The colonists were the first to make it here. Not surprisingly, farmers markets and a vibrant farm-to-table scene also have sprung up everywhere, making for unbeatable dining and nightlife.

Virginia is For Lovers: Follow Your Heart

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Fun Fact

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Jamestown, the USA’s first colony, was also Virginia’s first capital, preceding Williamsburg and finally Richmond.

Must see places

Arlington National Cemetery

The USA’s burial grounds for the nation’s service men and women, this site dates to the Civil War and preserves the customary reverence shown to the fallen in its memorials. Take a guided tour through this cemetery full of stories and history.

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Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

With 60,000 rare aircraft and spacecraft artifacts on display across 566 cubic meters, the sheer size of this museum impresses visitors. The Object Collection includes everything from engines to rockets and spacesuits.

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Virginia Beach Boardwalk

An 11-metric ton bronze statue named King Neptune presides over this Virginia institution. The beachfront promenade, made entirely smooth for in-line skating, offers nightly entertainment and is lined with restaurants and shops.

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Shenandoah National Park

The best way to take in this park’s mountains, valleys and sizable Blue Ridge Mountain wilderness is on the 175-kilometer scenic byway Skyline Drive. Make stops along the way to climb, picnic, bike and fish.

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George Washington’s Mount Vernon

Washington’s estate on the bank of the Potomac River is a fitting introduction to the life of a decorated general who became the first US president. Tour George and Martha’s gardens and farm as well as their mansion, and don’t miss stopping at the on-site distillery.